So I broke one of my rules - I updated twice in one day :P

First of all, I'd like to say - I know I thanked all of you in review replies, and at the bottom of this page, for my anonymous reviewers...but I just want to say I dont think that was enough. No words I could have said could possibly convey to you how happy I was to read each and every one of your reviews. I couldnt stop smiling as I read them! It was a complete turnaround for my crappy morning yesterday and I couldnt thank you all enough!!!

I apologize to those that I told this update would be up tomorrow - that was my original plan, but I just couldnt bear to keep you guys waiting anymore!! You were all so great to me last chapter!! I made 100 reviews, which I didnt think I'd get! Thank you so much everyone! I hope this chapter is enjoyable, and I wont keep you any longer, so go fourth, read, and (hopefully) enjoy:) :)

Chapter Four: Children

Children are God's apostles, day by day
Sent forth to preach of love, and hope, and peace.
James Russell Lowell

"Bones…" he drawled, watching her carefully, "What was that?"

Temperance felt her cheeks heat up, but she kept her face passive. This wasn't the way she had expected him to find out, and now wasnt the best time to "freak out." "That's Beth," she said, her voice matter-of-fact. Her heart thudded against her ribcage - she was almost surprised that Booth couldnt hear it. She paused a moment before adding, "My daughter."

She saw him let out a puff of air, and she bit the inside of her lip. "Your daughter," he said, his voice stony, his face masked, but his eyes burning with betrayal.

"No," Temperance said. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, and then opened them so that she was staring straight into his confused brown orbs. "Our daughter."

"Our…" his eyes went from betrayed to shocked. "Our daughter."

"Yes."

"You had a daughter," he continued, waving his arms around as he spoke. His eyes were lived and his voice traveled from shock to anger. "My daughter."

"Yes," she repeated, heaving a sigh as she watched him. She crossed her arms infront of her chest, her gaze fixed on him, her patience wearing thin.

Booth stood up with a growl, anger radiating from his face. He paced a length of the floor. "God, Bones," he said, turning back to face her, running his hands through his hair. "I fathered a daughter and you never even told me," he yelled.

Singer appeared in the doorway from which he had disappeared into, growling warningly. Brennan flapped a hand at him to shush him. "I…" she began, licking her lips to gather her thoughts. Suddenly her impaticence disappeared, and she found herself struggling to string a sentance together, forming one coherent thoght. "I thought that…I heard…a distracted soldier…"

"Is a dead soldier," Booth spat the remainder of the phrase. "Did you really think that this would be a distraction? Finding out I had a daughter!" his voice softened as he added, almost too quietly for her to hear, "Your daughter?"

"I don't know!" Temperance shouted, her impatience returning and her anger raising. Of all the ways she had planned to tell him, of all the ways she had thought he would react...this had never been one of them.

"Were you ever planning on telling me, Temperance?" Booth shouted, throwing his hands up into the air.

Temperance's eyes, which had been averted, snapped back to him with such venom in her gaze that Booth involuntarily took a step backwards. "Of course!" she shouted. "I would have never kept her from you!" How dare he accuse her...?! He didnt even know the half of it, of the longing to hear his voice, to see his face, to feel his lips on hers... "I wanted my baby to have a father…which is exactly why I never told you about her. If by some reason that was a distraction and you…didn't come home, then…" she trailed off, dropping her gaze and throwing herself down on the couch, her head bowed, her hair falling down infront of her face. She hadn't meant to say that much.

Booth suddenly felt guilt wash over him as he watched her sink onto the couch. In a way, her actions made sense. He walked over to her slowly, and crouched down in front of her, taking her hands in his. She looked up at him for a second, then looked away, but not before he saw the tears shining in her eyes. "Can I see her?" he asked gently, his eyes pleading.

She gave no response at first, but then, after a minute, she stood, slipping her hands carefully out of his, and nodded, heading off towards the room Singer had emerged from moments before. He followed her cautiously, and hovered in the doorway as he watched her head to the crib, where a young child, with curly brown hair and bright blue eyes was standing, sniffling slightly. Singer stood nearby, poking his nose in and out of the slats of the crib worriedly.

He watched as Temperance's face went from pain to joy in a matter of seconds as she reached inside the crib and hoisted the young child out, balancing her on her hip. "Did you have a nice nap, Bethy?" she asked, her voice taking on the typical tone of someone talking to a child, a voice that Booth never thougt he would hear her use as she bounced the child playfully with such emotion that he had never suspected she would hold. The child giggled playfully, smiling up into her mothers bright eyes. The young girl threw her arms around Temperance's neck in a young child's hug, and Temperance laughed, her face now glowing as she kissed the top of her daughters head.

With Elizabeth in her arms, she made her way towards the door, over to Booth. The young girl picked her head up, took a look at Booth, grinned widely and then giggling, buried her head into her mothers shoulder. Moments later she peeked her blue eyes out again to gaze at the man before her. Booth grinned at her, wiggling his fingers playfully, and she pulled herself away from her mother, extending her short arms out towards Booth, her hands clenching and unclenching as she tried to convey her message wordlessly.

Booth saw the shock cross Temperance's face at their daughters actions, but she didn't hesitate to shift the young girl's weight so that she could be handed over. Booth took the young girl readily, and Beth giggled again, running her hands along his face, plucking at his shirt. Temperance leaned back against the wall and watched the interaction between daughter and father, and a smile crossed her face. Booth's features had immediately softened as soon as the young girl had been placed in his arms. She watched him interact with their daughter, and a light, floaty feeling wormed its way into her heart.

"You think that's funny, do you?" he crooned as the girl continued to explore his face, giggling as she did. He didn't even notice Temperance slip out of the room until a bright flash filled it, and he looked up to see her with a camera in hand, an innocent grin perched on her face. The many implications of her actions brought a grin to his face, and he followed her as she moved back towards the living room.

Reaching the living room, Temperance reached out for Elizabeth, and Booth gave her up reluctantly, feeling a pang at the loss of warmth in his arms. "She's only ever warmed up to two people that quickly," Temperance said as she placed Beth on a play mat on the ground. Singer curled up protectively nearby, watching with one eye as Elizabeth jiggled a few rattles at a pink stuffed elephant placed beside her. "Hodgins – I still say it was the beard – and Cullen."

With Beth settled, she moved back to the couch, where Booth was already sitting, his eyes watching his daughter play on the ground. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Cullen?"

Temperance nodded. "He called me in for something the one time when I was there with her, and I put her down on the ground – she crawled right to him. He loves hers, too," she said, while both she and Booth had the same thought going through their mind – Amy, his own daughter who had fallen victim to cancer not too long before. "It took her a while to warm up to Zach and Angela though. I think Ange was jealous of Hodgins…"

Booth chuckled at the statement, and they lapsed into silence. Finally, he sighed, and looked back up to Temperance. "Listen, Bones," he began, catching her gaze, "I'm sorry I snapped. I…"

"I know," Temperance said, cutting him off. She paused, turning her head as she continued, "I missed you," she admitted, doing her best to keep her voice straight. Her mind skipped back for a moment to the first year they knew each other.

"…And you miss me."

"Zach misses you, not me.."

"Zach and I don't even talk!"

"He seems to think it's some sort of male bonding ritual."

"Maybe he's right."

"No he's not."

"He could be."

"You told him that so you wouldn't have to talk to him."

"Well it was nicer than shooting him!"

"Hmmmn...Goodman told me to investigate the other body."

"Well you better get on that. You know, next to you miss me, call me, we'll do lunch."

Well it wasn't quite a call…but still, it was admittance, more so than she could give back then. Booth reached out, taking her hand in his, his thumb stroking the back of her hand in small circles. "I missed you too," he murmured quietly. "And I…" he paused, sucking in on air, remembering all too well the last time this had happened, only with Rebecca, "I want to be a part of this."

She looked up at him, a small smile perched on her lips. "I want you to be, too," she stated, her eyes warm and welcoming.

The five simple words struck a chord somewhere in his heart, and he leaned forward, taking her head in his hands and crashing his lips against hers in a passionate kiss which she responded to greedily. When they pulled away for air, he said, "I thought you never wanted kids?"

She shrugged and twitched her lips in a way that told him that he wasn't going to get a straightforward answer – at least, not any time soon. "I missed all of it," he said, his voice twinged with regret, looking down at his daughter, and how much she had grown without him there. Temperance ducked her head, biting her lip to keep from a broad grin. He saw her cheeks tinge. "What?" he asked, and the smile grew on her face. "What?" he asked again, a laugh filling his voice.

"It's on tape," she said, her cheeks now flaming red.

His eyebrows skyrocketed, and his eyes narrowed, a smile twitching across his lips. "What is?"

"The sonograms, the birth, her first word, when she first started crawling…all of it," she said. "I knew…that you wouldn't want to miss it," she finished. When she finally looked up tentatively, she saw the goofy grin on Booth's face.

"Lets watch," he said, his eyes lit up brightly.

"No!" Temperance protested, feeling her face, if possible, heat even more. "Later," she said, laughing at the puppy dog look on Booth's face. "I promise," she continued, laying a hand on his arm. "Just…not now."

"What was her first word?" he asked, looking down to the small child who was playing contently with a brightly colored object.

Smiling, Temperance stood, grabbing the picture of her and Booth that he had noticed earlier, and knelt down in front of their daughter. She brushed a hair out of her eyes. "Beth," she said gently, and the young child's eyes snapped around to her mother, a grin breaking out on the youngsters face. Temperance held up the picture and tapped on the glass. "Who's this?" she asked.

"Dada!" the young girl exclaimed, and Temperance smiled, scooping her up. Booth felt his heart swell with emotion and watched as Temperance praised the girl, putting the picture back as she made her way back to the couch, setting Beth down between them. The young girl instantly crawled to her father's lap, and he picked her up, holding her against his chest as he kissed the top of her head.

"You know who I am?" he asked, murmuring into her hair. "I'm your Dada."

He let the young girl turn in his grasp, and he saw her eyes regard him with brilliant curiosity, so much like Temperance's. A grin stretched arcross her face, and she repeated the word. Booth fought back tears of happiness. "That's right," he said, kissing her forehead again.

Booth reached out to take Temperance's hand, tugging on it so that she slid closer to him. When she was close enough, he draped his arm around her. She saw the shine of tears in his eyes before she rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you, Seeley," she murmured quietly as she reached up to grasp the hand that was over her shoulder, her eyes flicking from her daughter, to him. For the first time – she could say it out loud.

Booth looked down on her in shock, and then he smiled. "I love you too, Bones," he said as he buried his face into her hair. He could feel their daughter on his lap, and Temperance on his shoulder, and his heart swelled with pride. "And I always have."

XxX

Okay, so that was sappy dramatic and angsty but hey you got your update!! I'm not too pleased with how this turned out, its way out of character and its just sappy and crap. I like the beginning, but not really the end. Maybe you guys liked it though! I do, however, love the quote at the top...it seems to fit :-D The excpert came from, if I remember correctly "the man on the fairway" but I'm not sure :-\

So because I gave you this update early, the next one isnt going to be at its normal time tomorrow, but later in the afternoon, after I get done from work (which I finish at lunch...so). There are either two or three more chapters to go, depending on if I'm writing the Parker chapter. I think I am, but I'm not sure yet!

Ponies: THERE's the real emo bomb, huh? haha, glad you liked what I did instead of having rebecca killed off. Thanks, I'm glad you think I write well :) I might keep writing - I dunno. I have some ideas but they dont go very far, nor do they go down on paper well, haha! Haha, that's great - I take Spanish and I think that's probably what I would do if I wound up actually speaking it fluently and then going to Spain and such. and Jeesh, three languages? We just pick one and thats about it! I chose Spanish - obviously, by what I said earlier. I'd love to be fluent in that... Anyway, glad you like the story so much! THanks for read/reviewing, as ususal!

Someone: Awww, thanks! I'm glad you like it so much:) I'm flattered! I hope the update wasnt too long of a wait, but I'm sure the fact that it had to be an update was too long for anyone, haha. I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for read/reviewing!

Fanfictionmonster: How was that for a reaction? HOpe you liked the chapter! Glad you liked the last one! Thanks for read/reviewing!

Rae: Hope you liked this chapter concluding the cliffy! Thanks for read/reviewing!!

Lori: Haha, now you know :) HOpe you liked it! Thanks for read/reviewing!

Janie: Yesh, I am evil :D Glad you liked the part with the ring, and the chapter! Hope you liked this one! Thanks for read/reviewing!